Twice Shy is an exhibition that deals with the peculiar interpersonal relations between a curator and an artist. With a zoom-in on the situation where the two come together for a purpose (or not), the exhibition is interested in unraveling the obscurity and patterns of a curator-artist relationship.
The exhibition features the publication Studio Visits Ethics by Feminist Culture House and a special issue of the monthly zine Salarakas. Both bodies of works involve contributors of cultural workers interested in similar topics at different times and from various perspectives.
Accompanying the collaborators’ bodies of works that encourage dialogues around relevant topics, Chih-Tung Lin presents a series of comic works derived from their master thesis project titled A Curator’s Report of 19 Studio Visits (2021) where they delve into the studio visit culture, conventions, power structure, among many other topics regarding an artist working with a curator in the visual arts realm, as their commentary on the exhibition theme from their role as a “curator with a hat of doubts”.
During the exhibition span, the exhibition also serves as a site for the Twice Shy meetup, an event where two match-made participants meet at the exhibition venue for a “studio visit” with each other. The participants, upon meeting, will find out if the studio-visit-in-practice is an awkward smile/ a short conversation/ a flash date/ a shared exhibition viewing experience or perhaps a professional exchange. Chih-Tung Lin and Mimi McPartlan from Salarakas are the matchmaker and instruct the participants on how to show up.
Twice Shy derives from Chih-Tung Lin’s master thesis project titled A Curator’s Report of 19 Studio Visits (2021) Click here to learn more.
The special Twice Shy x Salarakas issue themed “intentions & expectations” wishes to give light to the intentions and expectations that often exist as subtexts, secrets, or dreams and the attempt to speak out in pursuit of clarity and transparency within interpersonal relationships.
The special issue was on view during the exhibition period during which exhibition visitors can interact with the existing content or add their submissions on spot. After the exhibition, the printed issues including both the on-spot and the pre-submitted content were distributed in Helsinki like a regular Salarkas issue.
Biography:
Salarakas is a monthly Helsinki zine for the multilingual, the sweet, and the curious.
Feminist Culture House is an intersectional feminist organisation based in Helsinki, Finland. It is a curatorial and editorial platform that works with and for underrepresented artists, and produces tools for more equitable collaborations within the arts.
The Studio Visit Ethics project gathers artists’ lived experiences to investigate and challenge how studio visits are normatively (and uncritically) conducted. The project responds to needs raised by our artist collaborators for tools they can use to address the often unequal power dynamics that arise during studio visits.
The project included a series of workshops and studio visits facilitated by FCH (Gladys Camilo, Paola Jalili, Katie Lenanton, and Orlan Ohtonen) and in collaboration with Ignata Elana, Özgü Gundeslioglu, Natalie Hamada, Sasha Huber, Sonya Lindfors, Sara Moayed, Thomas Moose, Vidha Saumya, Shubhangi Singh, Kaino Wennerstrand, and Haliz Yosef. As a result, a printed and digital poster publication was launched by FCH, designed by Anh Ngo. It includes a flowchart that maps possible pathways for navigating different moments and positions during studio visits.
Twice Shy x Salarakas issue “intentions & expectations” front side
